Bötschi asks Marc Sway "My brother's death felt like a dam breaking"
Marc Sway performed on stage for the first time at the age of four. A conversation about his career as a musician, dealing with his high sensitivity and how important the support of his family is to him.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- Marc Sway released his new album entitled "Roots" this week. It is his seventh solo record.
- The 45-year-old has been a fixture on the Swiss music scene for over 20 years.
- At the beginning of his career, Sway hoped he would "rock the world" with his music. But then love intervened and he became the father of two daughters.
- "When we became parents, my wife and I realized that we wanted to protect our children, the most precious thing in both our lives," said Sway in an interview with blue News.
Marc Sway, I'm going to ask you as many questions as possible over the next 45 minutes. And please answer as briefly and quickly as possible. If you don't like a question, you can also say "go on" once.
Yes ... go on (laughs).
Music or money?
Music.
Bathrobe or kitchen apron?
Imagine if Udo Jürgens had worn an apron during his famous encores - and therefore: definitely a bathrobe.
Giovane Élber or Ronaldo?
Giovane Élber has been a friend of our family for many years and a role model for me.
Your voice is to you what Élber's feet were to the footballer: great happiness, the gift with which you can express your art. Is that right?
That's exactly how it is.
Why do you sing?
It's the quickest and most precise way for me to express myself.
How do you look after your voice?
Too little.
How much insurance do you have for your voice?
Too little.
About the author: Bruno Bötschi
blue News editor Bruno Bötschi regularly talks to well-known personalities from Switzerland and abroad for the question-and-answer game "Bötschi fragt". He asks them lots of questions - always direct, often funny and sometimes profound. It always remains open until the very last question as to where the fast-paced ping-pong will lead.
The French pianist Hélène Grimaud says that during particularly successful concerts she steps aside and watches herself. Does that happen to you too?
It's happened to me too. But I don't recommend it. While I was looking down at myself, I noticed my supposed mistakes more than usual. As a result, I start to feel like I'm not really myself. I think I work better on stage when my body and mind are one.
How important is people's applause to you?
I can live without applause, but not on stage.
As a singer, you made headlines in the media for the first time in 2003: do you remember?
The German teen magazine "Bravo" ran the headline "Sweet newcomer from Switzerland".
What did you think when you read the headline?
The press doesn't always lie (laughs).
The "Bravo" article said: "Marc is a Swiss man with Brazilian roots. The erotic newcomer is as sweet as Swiss chocolate and as fiery as the Brazilian sun."
I'd like to read a similar headline above our interview (laughs).
And seriously?
At the time, I thought: Wow, now I'm rocking the world. Because as a young person, what could be better than feeling a wonderful mixture of megalomania and naivety?
Almost a quarter of a century has passed since the text in "Bravo", but ...
... I don't like the way you emphasize that. I would like to have this question deleted (laughs) ...
... you haven't conquered Germany yet, at least not musically.
That has a lot to do with the fact that my wife and I have started a family. I didn't want to be a dad who is hardly ever at home. It's probably even the main reason why I haven't conquered Germany musically, or at least not yet.
How quickly did you win the heart of your wife Severine 28 years ago?
At the beginning of our relationship, we both had the feeling that we were only together provisionally - so it was more of a short-term partnership.
So it wasn't love at first sight?
I would say it was a slow approach and at some point a realization that it was much more serious than we both initially thought. But after almost 30 years of being together, I can now say that we are totally serious.
Your new album "Roots", which was released this week, includes the song "Best", which you dedicated to your wife. What is the secret of your long-term relationship?
The best tip for a long relationship is when both partners can be happy on their own.
Your new record also features a duet "Don't you" with your older daughter Naomi. In "Schweizer Familie", you said about this song: "On the other hand, we are opening a door to my private life that I wanted to keep closed for as long as possible for my own sake."
I have been a public figure for many years and know that this can bring a lot of light, but also shadows. When we became parents, my wife and I therefore knew that we wanted to protect our children, the most precious thing in both our lives.
Over the years, however, I realized that there comes a time when you have to let go as a parent and not stand in the way of your children. But I admit: the day Naomi said she would like to sing on stage with me, I was pretty shocked.
How did your first performance together go?
I was much more nervous than Naomi before our first duet. She, on the other hand, was totally relaxed, as if she had never done anything else before.
Is it really true that ramp sow Marc Sway is actually a highly sensitive person and often doesn't like people?
That is true. At some point I had to realize that I often receive more than other people. That gives me energy, but it often robs me of a lot of strength. This makes it all the more important for me to have a private place where I can find peace and quiet and organize my thoughts. At the same time, my high level of sensitivity during a performance helps me to better sense the mood in the room.
I don't want to offend you with this next question, but a colleague on the blue News editorial team recently said to me: "I think Marc Sway suffers from depression."
First of all, I would like to say to your colleague: I think her behavior is dangerous. It's not right to judge a person like that - and certainly not if you don't know them personally. Otherwise there is a great risk of becoming a kitchen psychologist.
I'm also saying this because I have people around me who are manic-depressive. I, on the other hand, am a highly sensitive person and have been extremely mindful of this since I found out. But I also have my life well under control because I regularly go to psychotherapy.
I imagine it's quite complicated when you're on tour and don't want to see people ...
Over the course of my career, I've learned to deal with it better and better. Today I hardly ever go beyond my limits.
And if it does happen ...
... I go into the forest on my own and take a long walk.
For Marc Sway, a life without music would be ...
... less beautiful, less colorful.
You are considered the king of corporate events.
As a musician, you can't be on tour all the time in small Switzerland. The number of concert venues is limited. But I'm a musician who loves giving concerts, so corporate events offer me additional opportunities to perform, which I'm happy to take advantage of - also because they're lucrative.
How much money would I have to put aside if I wanted to hire you as an artist for my 60th birthday?
Because it's you, a little less than other people. But beware, the price could go up again, depending on what questions you ask me now (laughs).
What is it about the rumor that you will be making a few appearances at Circus Knie next summer, just like Pegasus did last year?
That's absolutely true, even though I haven't heard anything about this rumor yet.
You even released an album called "Soul-Circus" a few years ago. Maybe you should have a phone call with the Knie family?
You know what: I regularly eat at Franco Knie's "Himmapan" in Rapperswil-Jona because I think it's the best Thai restaurant in Switzerland. But I'm sorry to disappoint you, I've already seen elephants and camels there, but we haven't discussed a possible "Knie" engagement yet.
What is true, however, is that Noah Veraguth from Pegasus contributed two songs to your new album. Loco Escrito did the same under his real name Nicolas Herzig. And you even sing a duet with Stephanie Heinzmann. Your new album combines a lot of Swiss music. How come?
At the beginning of my career, I spent a long time in Sweden. There I saw how many Swedish artists work together during so-called songwriting sessions. So you help each other. I thought that was extremely cool.
Shortly afterwards, I also tried it and recorded the song "Wa du bisch" together with Sina. I'm firmly convinced that working together like that makes songs even better.
When was the last time tears flowed for you?
I couldn't cry for years. Fortunately, that's different today. I would even say that I have discovered the beauty of crying.
In the TV show "Sing meinen Song" on 3+ in 2024, you ...
... may I briefly interject something about this: During that TV show, we cried every night. In the years before that, I was always annoyed because the artists were always crying. I remember saying to Nik Hartmann, the former producer: "This constant crying is getting on my nerves. And then I was there myself and was also constantly crying (laughs).
In the TV show "Sing meinen Song" on 3+ in 2024, you reinterpreted the song "Du" by Nemo and dedicated it to your brother Danny, who died in 2019. Why did you open this door back then?
I wrote the lyrics first and then thought long and hard about whether I should really perform the song on TV - mainly because I initially couldn't manage to perform the song without tears. The lyrics are about the pain after Danny's death and how hope grew in my grief and turned into the certainty that he was still with us. At some point I realized: it's okay to share your pain with others while singing.
Danny is actually your cousin. Your parents took him in at the age of three in 1999 after his parents and brother died of Aids in Brazil in quick succession.
The topic of "HIV" had an impact on me much earlier. My mother worked as a dance teacher. I therefore knew many gay men from an early age. As a child, I even thought for a long time that my father and grandfather were the only heterosexual men (laughs). I loved that time because it was so colorful and flowery.
I still remember sitting with my mother in front of the "Odeon" in Zurich, a pub where many gay men frequented at the time, and riding my tricycle up and down in front of it. But then HIV came along and my world collapsed. A lot of wonderful people around our family died back then.
How did Danny's death change your view of life?
My brother's death felt like a dam bursting and I had no chance to defend myself against the pain.
Do you believe in fate?
Yes.
In an interview with "Schaffhauser Nachrichten" last November, you said that you don't believe in any particular religion. What do you believe in?
The "WD40" (editor's note: a well-known lubricating oil) of my faith is spirituality. I believe in something higher and that people are made up of body and soul. What happens to the soul after death remains a mystery.
Why again are the atheists the bravest for you?
In my new song "When the Lights Go Out", I ask what happens when the lights go out forever? An atheist believes that after that the party is over. I have great respect for people who can endure that. In other words, that everything should really be over then and they don't seek refuge in religion.
I, on the other hand, am convinced that it's much cooler if you know that there's another room after the party where you can eat a warm croissant at five o'clock in the morning, for example.
You're 45 years old - so you're almost certainly halfway through your life. What does that do to you?
I now know that I'm one of the very youngest old people.
When was the last time getting older felt really good?
Getting older feels particularly good in situations that overwhelmed me as a young person with no experience. If I stay cool in such moments today, I always think: Age is kicking in a really great way.
Does death scare you more today than when you were younger?
Yes ... No ... Oh, I think death scares me less today. Probably because I've already had to let a few people go.
Do you have a living will?
Yes.
Do you have an advance care directive?
I've drawn that up too.
And a will?
Yes - but right, you still want to keep me alive for a bit?
Do my questions scare you that much?
A little (laughs).
The music industry has changed a lot in recent years because of streaming services. Is your income from streaming services like Spotify still as small as it was five years ago?
Yes.
Can you tell us how much you earned with your music on Spotify last year?
To be honest, I don't know how much I earned from Spotify last year. But I can tell you how much money you get paid as an artist if one of your songs is streamed a million times on Spotify, i.e. listened to for at least 20 seconds.
I'm curious.
It's a measly 4,000 Swiss francs.
And how much income do you generate on YouTube?
The income there is slightly higher. But you know what, sooner or later rock and pop music will suffer the same fate as classical music: it will have to be supported by state subsidies - at least if our society considers this type of music valuable enough.
I have a suggestion for you: if at some point you no longer earn enough from making music, you could open a restaurant.
I love cooking, so I don't think I would do too badly. As a musician, I'm also a host on stage.
You are already taking a first step towards gastronomy on your new album: In the booklet, there are some recipes from Elif Oskan and Markus Stöckle, the celebrity chef couple from Zurich.
That's mainly because I still prefer eating to cooking.
Who is at the stove more often at home: you or your wife?
I probably prefer cooking, but my wife more often.
Who cooks better?
You'd better ask our two daughters. But between you and me, I think they'd say I cook better (laughs).
We're slowly coming to the end ...
... I don't think that's right.
I'm sorry too, but almost everything comes to an end. Finally, we come to the self-rating test: please rate your own talent from zero points, no talent, to ten points, maximum talent. Let's start with gardener?
Three points. I know I can't do it, so I'm happy to leave it to people who can do it better.
Photographer?
Six points.
Lover?
You're asking the wrong person. But I hope for my wife's sake that I get more than five points (laughs).
Marc Sway is going on tour with "Roots". You can find the current dates here.
